Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail

Taking out as many student loans as I have/did.

Surely there must have been a better way to go about it. I didn't qualify for any scholarships, work studies or grants -- but maybe I didn't try hard enough to find ones I *did* qualify for. My monthly student loan payments are on par with a 160K mortgage and I won't even own a home at the end of them. I do wonder whether I would have finished my degree when I did, if at all if I had had to go half-time and worked harder to earn money to pay for college. I only finished my degree because I was able to live with family rent-free after transferring to another school. If I had just done that in the first place would I be in the financial hard spot I'm in now? Probably not. No one really cares where you get your bachelors degree anyhow, only that you have one.

I'm faced now with the choice between paying my own debts and being able to set aside money not only for retirement but for my childrens' education. It sucks.